EHT17 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2020] FCA 309

EHT17 v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs [2020] FCA 309

The appeal failed because the trial judge was entitled to rely on the official extracts, the appellant's multiple admissions, his visa application and his Federal Circuit Court application to find that the appellant was born in Tartous and that each parent was a citizen of Syria and Lebanon. Given the unchallenged expert evidence that under Syrian law a person born to a Syrian Arab father is a Syrian citizen, the appellant was a citizen of both Lebanon and Syria, so the delegate correctly concluded that his protection visa application was invalid by force of s 91P(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
25 February 2020
Procedural Posture
Appeal From Federal Circuit Court Decision Refusing Constitutional Writ Relief Against Rejection of Protection (subclass 866) Visa Application as Invalid / Federal Court Appeal
Outcome
Appeal dismissed with costs.
Legal Topics
['protection Visa Application Validity' 'dual Nationality' 'foreign Citizenship Law' 'ministerial Public Interest Power' 'appellate Review of Factual Findings']
['administrative Law' 'migration Law' 'constitutional Writ Relief' 'evidence'] ['protection Visa Application Validity' 'dual Nationality' 'foreign Citizenship Law' 'ministerial Public Interest Power' 'appellate Review of Factual Findings']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Appeal From Federal Circuit Court Decision Refusing Constitutional Writ Relief Against Rejection of Protection (subclass 866) Visa Application as Invalid / Federal Court Appeal

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ['Whether the trial judge erred in finding that the appellant was born in Tartous and that his parents were Syrian and Lebanese citizens.' 'Whether the appellant was a national of two or more countries for the purposes of s 91N of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).' "Whether the delegate was correct to conclude that the appellant's protection visa application was invalid by force of s 91P(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth)."]

Ratio Decidendi

The appeal failed because the trial judge was entitled to rely on the official extracts, the appellant's multiple admissions, his visa application and his Federal Circuit Court application to find that the appellant was born in Tartous and that each parent was a citizen of Syria and Lebanon. Given the unchallenged expert evidence that under Syrian law a person born to a Syrian Arab father is a Syrian citizen, the appellant was a citizen of both Lebanon and Syria, so the delegate correctly concluded that his protection visa application was invalid by force of s 91P(2) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed with costs.

Orders

  • ['The appeal be dismissed.' "The appellant pay the respondent's costs."]